The Occupy Greensboro General Assembly is the central decision-making body of the Occupy movement in our city. At each meeting individuals or groups have the opportunity to bring proposals forward for debate and decision. Often we include a discussion section in the meeting where a wide range of topics related to the health, justice and well being of our community are raised.

The General Assembly meets on Sunday from 4-6pm and Tuesday from 6:30-8:30pm.

All are welcome to attend!

The OGSO GA operates on a few ground rules that have been consented to by previous GA’s. In brief, they are:

We assume the best intent of everyone who attends.

We use a consensus decision-making process, defined by the GA.

We do not speak over each other or interrupt others speaking. We use a speakers stack to insure everyone has a turn to be heard.

We practice “step up, step up”. This means those individuals who regularly speak in meetings should “step up” their listening skills, while those who do not speak as much should try to contribute more as they feel safe doing.

We do not use hateful or oppressive speech. If, in the course of a meeting, you feel someone has done this, you may call for a “time-out” and the GA will hear your reaction and work to come to a resolution of the issue.

Two “unofficial” ground rules are:

Cut each other some slack.

Bring humor into the meeting with you.

We also use a variety of hand signals during the meeting to facilitate decision-making and non-verbal communication. This simple infographic from Occupy Together and Occupy Design illustrates them. We may not use all of the ones displayed here and the hand signals we use will be reviewed at each meeting.

Forum Topics

Let’s Lose Our House: A Modern Foreclosure Tale

"Let's Lose Our House" is a smart and funny look at the often misunderstood roots of the housing crash. It premiered on March 14, 2012 at the Carolina Theatre and was featured on the Rachel Maddow Show. If you are interested in hosting a screening of it in your area, contact OGSO's Foreclosure Working group here.